Facebook 'likes' Mamata, fake profiles mushroom

Mamata Banerjee's popularity seems to be soaring on cyberspace. More than 100 Facebook profiles and fan groups of the West Bengal chief minister have sprung up soon after her official profile was created on June 15. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.

Mamata Banerjee's popularity seems to be soaring on cyberspace even if her political stock is down after the failed push for APJ Abdul Kalam as next president. More than 100 Facebook profiles and fan groups of the West Bengal chief minister have sprung up soon after her official profile was created on June 15 — ironically, to drum up support for Kalam as president.

Party spin doctors see it as an indication of their leader’s increasing youth appeal.

While Banerjee’s original profile page has got tremendous response with nearly 85,000 'likes' and several comments, netizens are also flocking to Didi’s similar avatars — each one claims to be genuine — in hordes.

A profile page detailing Banerjee’s achievements and development plans has more than 12,000 likes and around 3,000 people posting on its wall. Another profile, Mamata Banerjee Super CM Of Bengal, has nearly 250 people liking it.

‘Mamata Banerjee Fan Club’ boasts of 702 people likes. This page also has a discussion board to encourage conversation and feedback on the Trinamool Congress chief.

However, not all pages are singing paeans to Banerjee. A profile page, which takes a dig at Didi, has around 1,000 friends and nearly 6,000 subscribers. “We cannot keep track of each and every profile being created. However, everyone knows which is the official page,” said Derek O’Brien, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP.